


It had to be you

by ReversedandReserved



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Explicit Language, Fluff and Angst, Hanahaki Disease, Humor, Multi, Suicide Attempt, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-15
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2020-01-14 11:25:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18475273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReversedandReserved/pseuds/ReversedandReserved
Summary: Tenko loved flowers, how could she not? The smell, the texture, they're beauty, it's all wonderful to her.What's not wonderful, however, is violently coughing them up every day for the past 2 months.One thing she knows for sure, is that she had enough. Looks like Kokichi shares the same sentiment.





	1. Day 0

Tenko adored flowers. Roses, lilies, bluebells, daffodils, they all held a special place in her heart. Mostly because that was usually the assortment of flowers that Himiko conjured up with magic, but even without that fact, they had a beauty unrivaled by any other plant.  
  
But what she didn't like, however, was coughing them up.  
  
The first time it happened she had assumed it was just some leftover phlegm, or maybe she had pushed herself too hard during her night workout. In an attempt to clear her throat, she coughed once.  
  
Then twice.  
  
Then three times.  
  
No dice, in fact it seemed to make the feeling even worse. But she wasn't going to let what was probably just some mucus beat her, so with one last coughing fit, whatever was lodged in her throat finally came out.  
  
A petal.  
  
She had no idea when she ate a flower, but she didn't think much of it. She was exhausted, and fell asleep without much trouble.  
  
But it just got worse.  
  
Her coughing fits would be more and more prolonged, and more petals fell out. By the third time she had no doubt in her mind she was NOT eating flowers, so she searched up what coughing up petals meant.  
  
Her blood ran cold upon reading the words. But she wasn't surprised. Every single time she squealed at Himiko, encouraged her, hugged her, Tenko gave a piece of herself to the magician. She gave and gave, but she knew it wasn't ever going her way.  
  
Himiko loved Angie, and that was that.  
  
The two had began seeing each other romantically exactly 2 months and 3 weeks ago (she's been painfully counting ever since), and since that time have become inseparable. You'd be hard pressed to find Angie's arms not around the girl, or wearing her hat, or getting a trick done for her sake. Himiko returned the affections in her own way, by allowing her to do these things in the first place as much as she wanted. Tenko had a limit to what she could do, boundaries she couldn't cross that just didn't exist for Angie. She learned to accept it. After all, if Himiko's happy, she's happy.  
  
But that thought process wasn't going to save her from herself. She finally coughed up another three flowers, stained with her blood. They hit the concrete floor of the school roof, the crimson liquid adding the weight necessary to make them fall faster than they would've normally.  
  
This torture, she's had enough. No way was she getting surgery to remove it, not ever. Her feelings for Himiko was the reason she kept going this long in the first place. A world where seeing her didn't make her heart race, or getting a hug didn't send electricity throughout her body, was a world she refuse to live in. It was better this way, really. She'd finally stop suffering, and Himiko wouldn't be bothered by her presence.  
  
Her lungs were perpetually on fire. That was always fun, after getting used to it. Pretty soon she was going to cough up some more, these few minutes of bliss inbetween got shorter and shorter each time. Might as well get this over with.  
  
Tenko peered over edge one last time, really making sure she wanted this. If she were to be honest, she didn't. Not even for a second. But the thought of her lungs finally getting rest was far too enticing to turn back on this.  
  
She'd just hope her peers wouldn't think less of her for doing so.  
  
And with a leg raised, she-  
  
"Am I interrupting something?"  
  
She nearly fell forward out of surprise, but she managed to turn around and see the source of the voice. Upon making eye contact with the owner, she would've preferred the oblivion before her.  
  
Kokichi Ouma. She was far too tired to deal with him.  
  
"Go away..."  
  
Kokichi raised an eyebrow, a smug grin playing on his face.  
  
"Oh? Where's that misandrist pride of yours? No 'degenerate' to add at the end of that sentence?"  
  
She opened her mouth to retort, but all she succeeded in doing was coughing up some stray petals along with a bit of blood. She wiped her sleeve, the blue fabric and red liquid making a sickly purple color on her left arm.  
  
"Yikes, put that back where it came from."  
  
Through heavy panting, she flipped him off. Tenko never cursed if she could help it, but Kokichi brought out the worst in her.  
  
"Hey hey, I'm not here to make fun of you. I just wanted to say we share a certain... kinship, if you will."  
  
He skipped forward, and she contemplated just walking off right then and there. But as he got closer, she noticed the edge of his lips were just as red as the flowers near her feet. Her suspicions were confirmed when he said his next words.  
  
"You like magic, right? Well, watch this!"  
  
He began to violently cough into his hand, a hacking sound she knew all too well. When he finished, he procured a flower from his palm, a purple hydrangea stained with red, complete with a tiny stem.  
  
"Tada! I got the **fucking** disease! I really don't have much time left, much like you. So, I suggest a proposition!"  
  
His grin was as wide as usual, but his eyes screamed desperation, a far cry from his supreme confidence he always displayed.  
  
"What are you getting at?"  
  
He held the flower up, crushing it in an enclosed fist. The petals broke apart, flying off in the slight breeze picking up.  
  
"We get our loves to break up, of course!"  
  
Tenko was about to yell at the sheer stupidity of his statement, but he kept going before she could.  
  
"Look, I don't want to die, ok? But this is the only thing I could think of. Like hell am I gonna give up that idiot so easily, but Maki is one stubborn bastard, eating up all his attention."  
  
So he was talking about Kaito. Tenko didn't even realize Kokichi was suffering too, but that's likely because he hides it so well. He was a master of pushing people away for sure.  
  
"I have a plan, though. And once it's hatched, he'll definitely be absolutely disgusted by her. Then I can finally be free of coughing up flowers for hours on end, and he'll be mine."  
  
That thought made his desperate grin into a genuine one for a moment as he spit out stray petals.  
  
"It's already been over 2 months. I say I got a week left, tops. But I'm not just gonna lie down and die, no way. Plus, don't you think giving up like this is doing your master a disservice? I'm no karate expert, but aren't you all about honor and stuff?"  
  
She thought about it, and reluctantly, she had to agree.  
  
"It's Neo Akiddo, not karate, you degenerate. But, you're right. I shouldn't give up like this."  
  
"Great! Then-"  
  
"I'm just going to accept my death when it comes."  
  
His smile left, replaced with an inquisitive look.  
  
"Huh? Are you stupid? Might as well jump off now then!"  
  
She shook her head.  
  
"Himiko is happy. I have no right to take that away from her. So I'm going to spend the last of my days by her side, even if it kills me."  
  
She walked past him, heading towards the roof entrance. He had no idea how she could just accept it, but that wasn't him. Kokichi hadn't really cared what happened to her, but that resolute look in her eyes as she walked past him up here gave him a good idea. He had only offered that alternative because he'd feel bad if he hadn't at least attempted to stop something preventable.  
  
But now that his job was done, he could work on his own problems. Because he wasn't gonna let some flowers kill him, no way in hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think!


	2. Day 1

Lunchtime. Himiko and Angie didn't show up to school today. It's not like that was an issue or anything, Hope's Peak didn't require attendance to classes, just that you passed your exam by year's end. Unfortunately, that meant Tenko was sitting alone today.  
  
She kept those degenerate males at bay, but in doing so scared off the other girls minus a few of them. If someone talked to her, it was usually out of obligation. There was a sense of peace in her, knowing that Himiko had someone to love her when she inevitably bites the dust.  
  
"Heeeeeeeeeey Tenko!"  
  
But alas, peace never lasts long. Kokichi sat across from her, grinning madly. She swallowed the flowers threating to stuff her esophagus if she didn't cough them out.  
  
"What is it."  
  
She tried to deadpan it, let him know that his presence didn't bother her, but her face already contorted into a scowl upon sight. Giving him a reaction was the worst thing she could do, but she did it every time.  
  
"Oh, nothin much! I'm just letting you know I have everything I need to begin is all. And besides that, I want to know how your doing."  
  
"Please, spare me. I want to live out the rest of my days in relative peace, I don't need a degenerate like you hounding me ontop of these flo-"  
  
Mid sentence, she hacked up a fully bloomed rose. Before anyone besides Kokichi could see, she reluctantly popped it back in her mouth and swallowed, shuddering.  
  
Tenko ran her hands through her scalp in frustration, tears threatning to trickle down her face at the corners of her eyes. It hurt. It hurt so, so much. She just wanted it to stop. Kokichi sensed her shift in mood and frowned.  
  
"Hey, look. Don't start getting upset now. You're the one that wanted to be all righteous and not save yourself. You're suffering because of you and you alone."  
  
He hacked up 6 petals, masking it behind a cough no one else seemed to notice. Luckily his skin was already so pale, or he'd been found out immediately. The later stages of the disease always had pale skin as a side effect, and that would've been a dead giveaway. He quickly suffed them in his scarf.  
  
"I have a right to feel pain, you menace. Nothing's ever hurt this bad in my entire life."  
  
"What, the flowers or the fact that Angie and Himiko are, without a doubt, agressively cuddling as we speak?"  
  
Her head hit the table, and he continued.  
  
"Angie gets to do whatever she wants to her, you know? And she gets to make her wear stuff too, or wear nothing at all! And they get to cuddle, smooch, make love, all of that, while you sit here on your ass and choke back flowers as you slowly rot from the inside out!"  
  
Her hands reached her head again, silent, choked sobs coming out. She coughed up another flower, another rose.  
  
Another reminder.  
  
As Tenko hid it in her pocket, she finally spoke again.  
  
"W-what do I do?!"  
  
Kokichi grinned.  
  
"Go find some dirt on Angie. Everyone has some type of secret, you know. If you can do that, and the dirt is vile enough like what I got on Maki, she'll ditch her. And without Angie, she'll be weak, vulnerable, in NEED of someone. That's when you, one of her only friends, come in. You got this."  
  
It was strange hearing Kokichi sound so supportive, but it had malicious intent behind it too. A double edged sword, always. She wiped her face, and that look of determination returned.  
  
"For a degenerate, you really know how to motivate. Fine. I'll play this game you showed me."  
  
His expression turned dark, his hair casting a shadow over his face.  
  
**"Remember, you have everything to win, and nothing to lose."**  
  
She flicked a petal at him, and he frantically whiped it off his chest as Tenko got up to walk out of the lunchroom. There were people who gave waves here and there to her, and she returned them with less enthusiasm. When she was completely gone, a weight settled to his right.  
  
"Didn't think I'd see you two ever get along."  
  
Rantaro ruffled his hair, something reserved only for him and Kaito. Kokichi gave him a dramatic squeeze.  
  
"Amamiiiiiiiiiiiii! I hate myself! Why do I gotta be moronsexual?!"  
  
Rantaro, used to this by now, gave him a playful nudge with a smile.  
  
"C'mon, act your age already. And stop squeezing me, you're gonna make those flowers come out of you."  
  
Rantaro knew of his plight, and supported his actions, albeit reluctantly. He didn't condone homewrecking, but if it was the only way to save Kokichi's life, he supposed the positived outweighed the negatives.  
  
Kokichi pulled back, crossing his arms with a pout and spitting up a petal that he promptly placed in his scarf.  
  
"Man, I hate this."  
  
"I know."  
  
"Why does that big idiot have to like such a bland and boring girl?"  
  
"Ever considered the possibility that he's heterosexual?"  
  
"What? In this school? With guys like you?"  
  
"While I appreciate the compliment, it's still possible."  
  
"If he is, just give me the damn surgery. But I doubt it, so I'm going all the way!"  
  
"You have like a week left, you know. Rather you like it or not, I'm paying for your surgery on day 6. My dad is a multi billionaire, I'm not letting you die."  
  
"Aww, does Amami-kun care about wittle ol' me?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
He was so serious in the way he said it that it momentarily detered Kokichi. A real, small smile played his lips. To have someone that cares about you, is a wonderful feeling in and of itself.  
  
Boisterous laughter echoed the lunchroom. On the other side, Miu and Kaito were laughing it up, with giggles coming fron Kaede and Shuichi. Kiibo looked around, trying to understand a joke most likely. Kokichi's face involuntarily flushed at the sight of the astronaut, and he found himself unable to look away.  
  
That is, until he heard a hacking sound to his right. A sound that was unmistakable, having heard it so many times.  
  
Rantaro was caught red handed, literally, as a crimson petal was on his palm. He sighed, putting it away.  
  
"What the FUCK, Rantaro?!  
  
The Adventurer shushed him.  
  
"Stop yelling, I don't want unnecessary attention."  
  
In a violent whisper, Kokichi continued.  
  
"You're DYING, idiot! Go get the surgery as soon as possible!"  
  
He shook his head.  
  
"Not happening. I'm not letting her go."  
  
Kokichi scanned the recesses of his mind, searching for a possible canidate. Three came to the forefront, but only one was cliche and dumb enough to make a romance novel lover like him fall head over heals for.  
  
"It's Kaede, isn't it?"  
  
The other boy gave a weak smile.  
  
"What can I say? I'm a sucker for sweethearts."  
  
"Stop smiling, stop that!"  
  
Despite himself, Kokichi felt happy for his friend. He was beginning to think he wasn't gonna be an uncle ever, but now maybe in 10 years or so he can be. That is, if he lives that long.  
  
"Ugh, you're so corny. Literally falling for the girl next door?"  
  
Rantaro sheepishly scratched the back of his head, but his smile left.  
  
"Yeah, I am. But it looks like it's just me then. She probably thinks of me as a brother."  
  
Kokichi grimaced.  
  
"The bro zone? Damn it, that's impossible to get out of unless you show her a grand gesture or something!"  
  
Kokichi, thanks to Rantaro, has also read plenty of teen romance novels. Most of them from the U.S, where they seemed to thrive. Learning English was a tough task, but making fun of them while secretly loving them was worth it.  
  
"She's not that kind of girl, you know that. I need to do something wholesome."  
  
"Like spending time with her in the hospital everyday while she gets better, slowly building a bond of mutual love and understanding?"  
  
Kokichi coughed up a lily as Rantaro pondered this.  
  
"I'm not gonna put her in the hospital. But something kinda like that."  
  
Kokichi, just then, had an amazing idea.  
  
"Rantaro, you better thank me for this one."  
  
"Oh? You got a ingenious plan already?"  
  
"Yep! Listen to this: You ask her to teach you how to play piano! And with a long term project like that, she'll inevitably fall for your charms, and it'll be golden!"  
  
Rantaro ruffled his hair again, his smile back full force.  
  
"Thanks bud, that sounds perfect. But what about you?"  
  
Kokichi's wicked grin returned as he eyed Maki next to Kaito on the other side of the room.  
  
"Oh, don't worry. I got something real special in mind."  
  
He sighed, taking his hand off his head and putting both of them to his hips.  
  
"Please go easy on her, you don't want to ruin her life."  
  
"I'm already gonna ruin it, I'm swiping her man for myself. Might as well go all the way, right?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the overwhelming support! This one is rather light hearted, but that's just in preparation for the next one.


End file.
